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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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he angler. by washington 
Irving, with etched illus- 
trations BY LOUIS K. HARLOW. 




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BOSTON • SAMUEL E • CASSINO 
MDCCCXCII 



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THE ANGLER. 

This day dame Nature seem'd in love, 

The lusty sap began to move, 

Fresh juice did stir th' embracing vines, 

And birds had drawn their valentines. 

The jealous trout that low did lie, 

Rose at a well dissembled fly. 

There stood my friend, with patient skill, 

Attending of his trembling quill. 

Sir H. Watton. 

It is said that many an unlucky urchin is 
induced to run away from his family, and 
betake himself to seafaring life, from reading 
the history of Robinson Crusoe ; and I sus- 
pect that, in like manner, many of those 
worthy gentlemen, who are given to haunt 
the sides of pastoral streams with angle-rods 
i 



in hand, may trace the origin of their passion 
to the seductive pages of honest Izaak Wal- 
ton. I recollect studying his " Complete 
Angler" several years since, in company with 
a knot of friends in America, and, moreover, 
that we were all completely bitten with the 
angling mania. It was early in the year ; but 
as soon as the weather was auspicious, and 
that the spring began to melt into the verge 
of summer, we took rod in hand, and sallied 
into the country, as stark mad as was ever 
Don Quixote from reading books of chivalry. 

One of our party had equalled the Don in 
the fulness of his equipments ; being attired 
cap-a-pie for the enterprise. He wore a 
broad-skirted fustian coat perplexed with half 
a hundred pockets ; a pair of stout shoes, and 
leathern gaiters ; a basket slung on one side 
for fish ; a patent rod ; a landing net, and a 
score of other inconveniences only to be found 
in the true angler's armory. Thus harnessed 
for the field, he was as great a matter of stare 
and wonderment among the country folk, who 
had never seen a regular angler, as was the 
steel-clad hero of La Mancha among the 
goatherds of the Sierra Morena. 

Our first essay was along a mountain brook,, 



among the highlands of the Hudson — a most 
unfortunate place for the execution of those 
piscatory tactics which had been invented 
along the velvet margins of quiet English 
rivulets. It was one of those wild streams 
that lavish, among our romantic solitudes, 
unheeded beauties, enough to fill the sketch- 
book of a hunter of the picturesque. Some- 
times it would leap down rocky shelves, 
making small cascades, over which the trees 
threw their broad balancing sprays ; and long 
nameless weeds hung in fringes from the 
impending banks, dripping with diamond 
drops. Sometimes it would brawl and fret 
along a ravine in the matted shade of a forest, 
filling it with murmurs ; and after this terma- 
gant career, would steal forth into open day 
with the most placid demure face imaginable ; 
as I have seen some pestilent shrew of a 








housewife, after 
filling her home with uproar 
and ill-humor, come dimpling out of doors, 
swimming, and curtseying and smiling upon 
all the world. 

How smoothly would this vagrant brook 
glide, at such times, through some bosom of 
green meadow land, among the mountains ; 
where the quiet was only interrupted by the 
occasional tinkling of a bell from the lazy 
cattle among the clover, or the sound of 
a wood-cutter's axe from the neighboring 
forest ! 

For my part, I was always a bungler at all 
kinds of sport that required either patience 
or adroitness, and had not angled above half 
an hour, before I had completely " satisfied 
the sentiment," and convinced myself of the 
4 



truth of Izaak Walton's opinion, that angling 
is something like poetry — a man must be 
born to it. I hooked myself instead of the 
fish ; tangled my line in every tree ; lost my 
bait ; broke my rod ; until I gave up the 
attempt in despair, and passed the day under 
the trees, reading old Izaak ; satisfied that it 
was his fascinating vein of honest simplicity 
and rural feeling that had bewitched me, and 
not the passion for angling. My companions, 
however, were more persevering in their delu- 
sion. I have them at this moment before my 
eyes, stealing along the border of the brook, 
where it lay open to the day, or was merely 
fringed by shrubs and bushes. I see the 
bittern rising with hollow scream, as they 
break in upon his rarely- invaded haunt ; the 
kingfisher watching them suspiciously from 
his dry tree that overhangs the deep black 
mill-pond, in the gorge of the hills ; the tor- 
toise letting himself slip sideways from off the 
stone or log on which he is sunning himself; 
and the panic-struck frog plumping in head- 
long as they approach, and spreading an 
alarm throughout the watery world around. 
I recollect, also, that, after toiling and 
watching and creeping about for the greater 
5 




part of a day, with 
scarcely any success, in 

spite of all our admirable apparatus, a lub- 
berly country urchin came down from the 
hills, with a rod made from a branch of a 
tree ; a few yards of twine ; and, as heaven 
shall help me ! I believe a crooked pin for 
a hook, baited with a vile earth-worm — and 
in half an hour caught more fish than we had 
nibbles throughout the day. 

But above all, I recollect the " good, honest, 
wholesome, hungry " repast, which we made 
under a beech-tree just by a spring of pure 
sweet water, that stole out of the side of a 
hill ; and how, when it was over, one of the 
party read old Izaak Wal- 
ton's scene with the-- 
milk-maid, ... > v 
while I r 

lay on the grass and built 
6 




castles in a bright pile of clouds, until I fell 
asleep. All this may appear like mere ego- 
tism ; yet I cannot refrain from uttering these 
recollections which are passing like a strain 
of music over my mind, and have been called 
up by an agreeable scene which I witnessed 
not long since. 

In a morning's stroll along the banks of 
the Alun, a beautiful little stream which flows 
down from the Welsh hills and throws itself 
into the Dee, my attention was attracted to a 
group seated on the margin. On approach- 
ing, I found it to consist of a veteran angler 
and two rustic disciples. The former was an 
old fellow with a wooden leg, with clothes 
very much, but very carefully patched, beto- 
kening poverty, honestly come by, and de- 
cently maintained. His face bore the marks 
of former storms, but present fair weather ; 
its furrows had been worn into an habitual 
smile ; his iron-gray locks hung about his 
ears, and he had altogether the good-humored 
air of a constitutional philosopher, who was 
disposed to take the world as it went. One 
of his companions was a ragged wight, with 
the skulking look of an arrant poacher, and 
I'll warrant could find his way to any gentle- 



man's fish-pond in the neighborhood in the 
darkest night. The other was a tall, awkward, 
country lad, with a lounging gait, and appar- 
ently somewhat of a rustic beau. The old 
man was busied examining the maw of a trout 
which he had just killed, to discover by its 
contents what insects were seasonable for 
bait ; and was lecturing on the subject to his 
companions, who appeared to listen with in- 
finite deference. I have a kind feeling toward 
all " brothers of the angle," ever since I read 
Izaak Walton. They are men, he affirms, of 
a " mild, sweet, and peaceable spirit ; " and 
my esteem for them has been increased since 
I met with an old " Tretyse of fishing with 
the Angle," in which are set forth many of 
the maxims of their inoffensive fraternity. 
" Take goode hede," saith this honest little 
tretyse, " that in going about your disportes 
ye open no man's gates but that ye shet them 
again. Also ye shall not use this foresaid crafti 
disport for no covetousness to the increasing 
and sparing of your money only, but princi- 
pally for your solace and to cause the helth 
of your body and specyally of your soule."* 

* From this same treatise, it would appear that an- 
gling is a more industrious and devout employment than 



I thought that I could perceive in the vet- 
eran angler before me an exemplification of 
what I had read ; and there was a cheerful 
contentedness in his looks, that quite drew 
me towards him. I could not but remark the 
gallant manner in which he stumped from one 
part of the brook to another ; waving his rod 
in the air, to keep the line from dragging on 
the ground, or catching among the bushes ; 
and the adroitness with which he would 
throw his fly to any particular place ; some- 
times skimming it lightly along a little rapid ; 
sometimes casting it into one of those dark 
holes made by a twisted root or overhanging 
bank, in which the large trout are apt to lurk. 
In the meanwhile, he was giving instructions 
to his two disciples ; showing them the man- 
ner in which they should handle their rods, 
fix their flies, and play them along the surface 
of the stream. The scene brought to my mind 

it is generally considered. " For when ye purpose to go 
on your dispones in fishynge, ye will not desyre greatlye 
many persons with you, which might let you of your 
game. And that ye may serve God devoutly in sayinge 
effectually your customable prayers. And thus doying, 
ye shall eschew and also avoyde many vices, as ydleness, 
which is a principall cause to induce man to many other 
vices, as it is right well known." 
9 




** "■•'•■^: >* / 
the instructions of the sage Piscator to his 

scholar. The country around was of that 
pastoral kind which Walton is fond of de- 
scribing. It was a part of the great plain 
of Cheshire, close by the beautiful vale of 
Gessford, and just where the inferior Welsh 
hills begin to swell up from among fresh-smell- 
ing meadows. The day, too, like that recorded 
in his work, was mild and sunshiny ; with now 
and then a soft dropping shower, that sowed 
the whole earth with diamonds. 

I soon fell into conversation with the old 
angler, and was so much entertained, that, 
under pretext of receiving instructions in his 
art, I kept company with him almost the 
whole day ; wandering along the banks of 
the stream, and listening to his talk. He was 



very communicative, having all the easy gar- 
rulity of cheerful old age ; and I fancy was a 
little flattered by having an opportunity of 
displaying his piscatory lore ; for who does 
not like now and then to play the sage ? 

He had been much of a rambler in his 
day ; and had passed some years of his youth 
in America, particularly in Savannah, where 
he had entered into trade, and had been 
ruined by the indiscretion of a partner. He 
had afterwards experienced many ups and 
downs in life, until he got into the navy, 
where his leg was carried away by a cannon- 
ball, at the battle of Camperdown. This was 
the only stroke of real good fortune he had 
ever experienced, for it got him a pension, 
which, together with some small paternal 
property, brought him in a revenue of nearly 
forty pounds. On this he retired to his native 
village, where he lived quietly and indepen- 
dently, and devoted the remainder of his life 
to the "noble art of angling." 

I found that he had read Izaak Walton 
attentively, and he seemed to have imbibed 
all his simple frankness and prevalent good- 
humor. Though he had been sorely buffeted 
about the world, he was satisfied that the 



world, in itself, was good and beautiful. 
Though he had been as roughly used in dif- 
ferent countries as a poor sheep that is fleeced 
by every hedge and thicket, yet he spoke of 
every nation with candor and kindness, ap- 
pearing to look only on the good side of 
things ; and above all, he was almost the 
only man I had ever met with, who had been 
an unfortunate adventurer in America, and 
had honesty and magnanimity enough to take 
the fault to his own door, and not to curse 
the country. 

The lad that was receiving his instructions 
I learnt was the son and heir apparent of a 
fat old widow, who kept the village inn, and 
of course a youth of some expectation, and 
much courted by the idle, gentleman-like 
personages of the place. In taking him under 
his care, therefore, the old man had probably 
an eye to a privileged corner in the tap-room, 
and an occasional cup of cheerful ale free of 
expense. 

There is certainly something in angling, if 
we could forget, which anglers are apt to do, 
the cruelties and tortures inflicted on worms 
and insects, that tends to produce a gentle- 
ness of spirit, and a pure serenity of mind. 



As the English are methodical even in their 
recreations, and are the most scientific of 
sportsmen, it has been reduced among them 
to perfect rule and system. Indeed, it is an 
amusement peculiarly adapted to the mild 
and cultivated scenery of England, where 
every roughness has been softened away from 
the landscape. It is delightful to saunter 
along those limpid streams which wander, 




like veins of silver, through the bosom of this 
beautiful country; leading one through a 
diversity of small home scenery ; sometimes 
winding through ornamented grounds ; some- 
times brimming along through rich pasturage, 
where the fresh green is mingled with sweet- 
smelling flowers ; sometimes venturing in sight 
of villages and hamlets ; and then running 
capriciously away into shady retirements. 
13 



The sweetness and serenity of nature, and 
the quiet watchfulness of the sport, gradually 
bring on pleasant fits of musing ; which are 
now and then agreeably interrupted by the 
song of a bird; the distant whistle of the 
peasant ; or perhaps the vagary of some fish, 
leaping out of the still water, and skimming 
transiently about its glassy surface. " When 
I would beget content," says Izaak Walton, 
" and increase confidence in the power and 
wisdom and providence of Almighty God, I 
will walk the meadows by some gliding stream, 
and there contemplate the lilies that take no 
care, and those very many other little living 
creatures that are not only created, but fed, 
(man knows not how) by the goodness of the 
God of nature, and therefore trust in him." 

I cannot forbear to give another quotation 
from one of those ancient champions of an- 
gling which breathes the same innocent and 
happy spirit : 

Let me live harmlessly, and near the brink 

Of Trent or Avon have a dwelling-place ; 
Where I may see my quill, or cork down sink, 

With eager bite of Pike, or Bleak, or Dace, 
And on the world and my creator think : 

While some men strive ill-gotten goods t* embrace ; 
And others spend their time in base excess 

Of wine, or worse, in war or wantonness. 
14 



Let them that will, these pastimes still pursue, 
And on such pleasing fancies feed their fill, 

So I the fields and meadows green may view, 
And daily by fresh rivers walk at will 

Among the daisies and the violets blue, 
Red hyacinth and yellow daffodil * 




On parting with the old angler, I inquired 
after his place of abode, and happening to be 
in the neighborhood of the village a few even- 
ings afterwards, I had the curiosity to seek 
him out. I found him living in a small cot- 
tage, containing only one room, but a perfect 
curiosity in its method and arrangement. It 
was on the skirts of the village, on a green 
bank, a little back from the road, with a small 
garden in front, stocked with kitchen-herbs, 
and adorned with a few flowers. The whole 
front of the cottage was overrun with a honey- 
suckle. On the top was a ship for a weather- 

*J. Davors. 

!5 




cock. The interior was fitted up in a truly 
nautical style, his ideas of comfort and con- 
venience having been acquired on the berth- 
deck of a man-of-war. A hammock was 
slung from the ceiling, which in the day-time 
was lashed up so as to take but little room. 
From the centre of the chamber hung a model 
of a ship, of his own workmanship. Two or 
three chairs, a table, and a large sea-chest, 
formed the principal movables. About the 
wall were stuck up naval ballads, such as 
Admiral Hosier's Ghost, All in the Downs, 
and Tom Bowling, intermingled with pictures 
of sea-fights, among which the battle of Cam- 
perdown held a distinguished place. The 
16 



mantelpiece was decorated with seashells ; 
over which hung a quadrant, flanked by two 
wood-cuts of most bitter-looking naval com- 
manders. His implements for angling were 
carefully disposed on nails and hooks about 
the room. On a shelf was arranged his library, 
containing a work on angling, much worn ; a 
bible covered with canvas ; an odd volume 
or two of voyages ; a nautical almanac ; and 
a book of songs. 

His family consisted of a large black cat 
with one eye, and a parrot which he had 
caught and tamed, and educated himself, in 
the course of one of his voyages ; and which 
uttered a variety of sea phrases, with the 
hoarse rattling tone of a veteran boatswain. 
The establishment reminded me of that of 
the renowned Robinson Crusoe ; it was kept 
in neat order, everything being " stowed 
away" with the regularity of a ship of war; 
and he informed me that he " scoured the 
deck every morning, and swept it between 
meals." 

I found him seated on a bench before the 

door, smoking his pipe in the soft evening 

sunshine. His cat was purring soberly on 

the threshold, and his parrot describing some 

17 



strange evolutions in an iron ring, that swung 
in the centre of his cage. He had been an- 
gling all day, and gave me a history of his 
sport with as much minuteness as a general 
would talk over a campaign ; being particu- 
larly animated in regulating the manner in 
which he had taken a large trout, which had 
completely tasked all his skill and wariness, 
and which he had sent as a trophy to mine 
hostess of the inn. 

How comforting it is to see a cheerful and 
contented old age ; and to behold a poor 
fellow, like this, after being tempest-tost 
through life, safely moored in a snug and 
quiet harbor in the evening of his days ! His 
happiness, however, sprung from within him- 
self, and was independent of external cir- 
cumstances ; for he had that inexhaustible 
good-nature, which is the most precious gift 
of Heaven ; spreading itself like oil over the 
troubled sea of thought, and keeping the 
mind smooth and equable in the roughest 
weather. 

On inquiring farther about him, I learnt 

that he was a universal favorite in the village, 

and the oracle of the tap-room ; where he 

delighted the rustics with his songs, and, like 

18 



Sinbad, astonished them with his stories of 
strange lands, and shipwrecks, and sea-fights. 
He was much noticed too by gentlemen 
sportsmen of the neighborhood ; had taught 
several of them the art of angling ; and was 
a privileged visitor to their kitchens. The 
whole tenor of his life was quiet and inoffen- 
sive, being principally passed about the neigh- 
boring streams, when the weather and season 
were favorable ; and at other times he em- 
ployed himself at home, preparing his fishing 
tackle for the next campaign, or manufactur- 
ing rods, nets and flies, for his patrons and 
pupils among the gentry. 




19 




He was a regular attendant at church on 
Sundays, though he generally fell asleep during 
the sermon. He had made it his particular 
request that when he died he should be buried 
in a green spot, which he could see from his 
seat in church, and which he had marked 
out ever since he was a boy, and had thought 
of when far from home on the raging sea, in 
danger of being food for the fishes — it was 
the spot where his father and mother had 
been buried. 

20 



I have done, for I fear that my reader is 
growing weary ; but I could not refrain from 
drawing the picture of this worthy " brother 
of the angle ; " who has made me more than 
ever in love with the theory, though I fear I 
shall never be adroit in the practice of his 
art ; and I will conclude this rambling sketch 
in the words of honest Izaak Walton, by crav- 
ing the blessing of St. Peter's master upon my 
reader, " and upon all that are true lovers of 
virtue ; and dare trust in his providence ; and 
be quiet ; and go a angling." 




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